Mass spectrometry has been known as a technique for identifying and quantifying a substance contained in a sample. The mass spectrometry is often combined with a separation device, such as a liquid chromatograph (LC), a gas chromatograph (GC), or a capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation device, so as to detect, particularly, a plurality of target substances, mixed with each other, in a sample. Examples of such a combination encompass a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometer (LC/MS), and a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometer (LC/MSn).
In recent years, mass spectrometers, such as the LC/MS, have been improved in performance. For example, a mass spectrometer having a high analysis speed or high detection sensitivity, and a mass spectrometer realizing widely targeted analysis have been developed. The mass spectrometer having a high analysis speed can deal with a large number of samples due to a reduction in a period of time necessary for detection per substance. Further, the mass spectrometer having high detection sensitivity can detect a substance in a small amount, contained in a biological sample and the like. Furthermore, the mass spectrometer realizing widely targeted analysis allows a so-called “omics analysis” (albeit only partially).
Waters Corp., for example, already developed an application which allows simultaneous analysis with the use of such a device.